---
title: Model Preferences
---

Model preferences allow you to easily extend Spree models with configuration options. Thanks to this you can store useful information on Spree models, eg.

```ruby
user.preferred_language = "English"
user.save
```

## Defining Model Preferences

To define a model preference, you need to add them to your model class.

Make sure to generate a migration to add the `preferences` column to the table. This column will store the preferences in a serialized format.

```ruby
rails g migration AddPreferencesToSpreeUsers preferences:text
```

Run the migration.

```ruby
rails db:migrate
```

```ruby
class Spree::User < ApplicationRecord
  # ... you existing code ...

  # include the preferable module
  include Spree::Preferences::Preferable
  # define the preferences
  preference :language, :string, default: "English"
  preference :sms_marketing, :boolean, default: false
end
```

This will add a `language` preference to the `User` model. The preference will be stored in the newly created `preferences` column of the `spree_users` table. You can add more preferences to the model in the same way.

## Accessing Model Preferences

Once preferences have been defined for a model, they can be accessed either using the shortcut methods that are generated for each preference or the generic methods that are not specific to a particular preference.

### Shortcut Methods

There are several shortcut methods that are generated. They are shown below.

Query methods:

```ruby
user.prefers_sms_marketing? # => false
```

Reader methods:

```ruby
user.preferred_sms_marketing      # => false
user.preferred_language   # => "English"
```

Writer methods:

```ruby
user.prefers_sms_marketing = false         # => false
user.preferred_language = "English"    # => "English"
```

<Note>
  Remember to run `user.save` after setting the preference value to save the changes to the database.
</Note>

Check if a preference is available:

```ruby
user.has_preference? :sms_marketing
```

### Generic Methods

Each shortcut method is essentially a wrapper for the various generic methods shown below:

Query method:

```ruby
user.prefers?(:sms_marketing)       # => false
user.prefers?(:language)  # => false
```

Reader methods:

```ruby
user.preferred(:sms_marketing)      # => false
user.preferred(:language)   # => "English"
```

```ruby
user.get_preference :sms_marketing
user.get_preference :language
```

Writer method:

```ruby
user.set_preference(:sms_marketing, false)     # => false
user.set_preference(:language, "English")  # => "English"
```

### Accessing All Preferences

You can get a hash of all stored preferences by accessing the `preferences` helper:

```ruby
user.preferences # => {"language"=>"English", "sms_marketing"=>false}
```

This hash will contain the value for every preference that has been defined for the model instance, whether the value is the default or one that has been previously stored.

## Models with preferences

The following Spree models already have preferences defined:

* `Spree::Calculator`
* `Spree::Gateway`
* `Spree::PageBlock`
* `Spree::PageSection`
* `Spree::Page`
* `Spree::PaymentMethod`
* `Spree::PromotionRule`
* `Spree::Store`
* `Spree::Theme`